DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University trustee David Rubenstein will give $10 million to the Duke Athletics Department, matching the department’s largest gift, school officials announced Thursday.

The gift will support the priorities of Duke Athletics outlined in Duke Forward, the $3.25 billion university-wide fundraising campaign launched in September.

"The breadth of David Rubenstein's interests at Duke is matched only by the depth of his generosity," said Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead. “We are grateful for the many extraordinary ways he has supported Duke’s highest priorities and enriched the student experience.”

Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White said “the generosity of Duke supporters such as David Rubenstein never ceases to amaze me. David's enormous philanthropic contributions to Duke University are well chronicled. His latest financial investment in Duke signifies his unwavering belief that athletics plays a pivotal role in the incredible spirit found here.

“Within several weeks of one another, we received transformative gifts -- previously unmatched in Duke Athletics history -- that will certainly have an enduring and substantive impact on all Blue Devil student-athletes, coaches, alumni, fans and staff. We sincerely thank David for this unfailing commitment to Duke Athletics."

Rubenstein’s gift is the second $10 million gift to Duke Athletics this fall. In October, Dr. Steven Scott and his wife, Rebecca Scott, made a $10 million gift to help support the activities and programs in a new 35,000-square-foot building that will house ticket offices, a team store, training rooms and other functions.

The Duke Forward campaign will support priorities across Duke's 10 schools, Duke Medicine and a range of university programs. Included in the campaign is a $250 million goal for Duke Athletics to be divided three ways -- facility enhancements and support ($100 million), endowment income ($50 million) and operating funds ($100 million).

“I am pleased to join so many others in supporting Duke's athletic program -- not just because of its success in so many sports over so many years, but also because of the program's commitment to academic achievement and excellence," said Rubenstein, who graduated from Duke in 1970 and who serves as vice chair of the university’s Board of Trustees.

This is the latest in a series of gifts to Duke from Rubenstein, who is one of the co-chairs of the Duke Forward campaign.

In May, he donated $15 million to serve as a catalyst for the university's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. Last year, he gave $13.6 million to the Duke University Libraries in support of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, which now bears his name. In 2009, Rubenstein donated $5.75 million to help the Sanford School of Public Policy meet a $40 million fundraising target for its transition from an institute to Duke's 10th school. And in 2002, he contributed $5 million toward the completion of Sanford's Rubenstein Hall.

A Baltimore native, Rubenstein is co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager. He is also an active civic leader and serves on numerous boards, including those of the Smithsonian Institution, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

In December 2007, Rubenstein purchased the last privately owned copy of the Magna Carta at Sotheby's auction house in New York and, since then, has loaned it to the National Archives in Washington D.C., to allow the public to view the document. Earlier this year, Rubenstein donated $13.5 million to the National Archives for a new gallery and visitors center.

Rubenstein and his wife, Alice Rogoff Rubenstein, have three children.